Buses and Castles and Sheep… Oh My!!

Written 8 July 2011 – Scotland, Day One

I’m in Edinburgh!!!  It’s so great to be here, but the trip up here yesterday was actually pretty brutal… we were on the bus for about eight hours!  We did make quite a few stops, though, so it wasn’t all that bad.  The first one was around 13:00, when we stopped in Richmond for lunch.  Richmond is a beautiful village in Yorkshire (which is in Northern England) that houses the ruins of a 12^th century castle.  I didn’t really want to sit down and eat right off the bus, so I went to go check it out. 

It’s really quite incredible… The first tower is enormous, and once you walk inside, there’s a big grassy area that is enclosed by the remains of the rest of the castle.  I don’t know what it is about ruins, but I think they’re really beautiful.  One would think that crumbling buildings would be unattractive, but I think there’s something pretty cool in imagining what it was once like.

The best part of the castle was the view from the top.  I had to climb so many stairs to get up there, but once I made it, the view was incredible.  I could see the entire village, as well as a large part of the countryside.

Everything is just so lush and green up there, probably because it rains so much.  And in the true spirit of Northern England, after about five minutes at the top of the castle, it started pouring, so I headed back down.

Afterwards, we got lunch and just strolled around the town (luckily, it had stopped raining by then).  There is a really cool building in the town square that I believe is quite a few hundred years old as well, but I couldn’t quite figure out what it was.

At first, I thought it was a church, but after further investigation, I found that it had some kind of military purpose, but there wasn’t a plaque that explained it or anything.  It now houses a military museum, but it was quite expensive to get in, and we didn’t have much time left before we had to get on the bus again, so we passed on that.  Instead, we just walked around and looked at the buildings, all of which are very cool; the town has a definite kind of character to it. 

Before I knew it, though, we were back on the bus and headed north again.

It only took us a few more hours to reach the Scottish border, where we got off to take pictures.

If I look unhappy in that picture, it’s only because it was freezing!!!  We were at very high elevation, and I left my coat on the bus because the driver said we were only stopping for five minutes. 

The view from the border marker was, again, incredible.  The driver said there’s usually a bagpiper there, but he seemed to have gone home for the day, which was sad.  I would have liked to hear some bagpipe music as I took my awesome panoramas of the Scottish countryside!!

 

And then, once again, we were back on the bus, but I was actually starting to find the drive a bit more enjoyable.  The Scottish countryside is very pretty, and so I just watched out the window.  There are tons of sheep, though! 

I found them really quite amusing for two reasons: First, they’re always eating!!  It’s just grass, it can’t be THAT good!  And second…. Well, if you’ve never heard Ian Dunbar sing his song about “shaypees” in a Scottish accent, then you wouldn’t understand.

Finally, we arrived in Edinburgh, and guess where we’re staying?!

POLLOCK. HALLS.  (For anyone who is unaware, Pollock Halls is where we stayed when we came for Fringe two years ago.)  It’s incredibly weird to be staying here again, and it really makes me miss my Fringe buddies… I’ve been feeling nostalgic ever since we arrived.  However, it’s time to make new memories with new friends, right?

Everyone wanted to go out, so I suggested we head to the Royal Mile.  Weirdly, I still remember where everything is!  I thought I would have forgotten by now, but my feet literally just carried me there and everyone followed….

The city is very empty right now because the festival doesn’t start for another few weeks, but once we started getting close to the center of town, things started to liven up.  On the way down, we walked past this clothing store, and I just had to take a picture for my Fringe friends:

For everyone else, it’s too hard to explain!! 

And then finally, the Royal Mile!!  The Royal Mile has some of the best architecture in the city…

We just kind of strolled around for a bit, taking pictures and looking for a pub that would accommodate a big group.

Finally, we came across The Filling Station.  It was a little kitschy, but we were ok with that.

We sat for quite a while, had a couple rounds, and just talked and talked and talked.  It ended up being a really great night, and it was past midnight when we headed back.  We would have stayed out later, but I’m going on a hike to the Trossachs today (which is up in the Scottish Highlands), and I didn’t want to be tired.  I’m really excited for the hike because it’s something I haven’t done yet!  I’ve seen quite a lot of Edinburgh, but when my Fringe group went north to the Highlands, I had to stay behind because I was sick…. But I’ll finally get to see it today!  However, my bus leaves at 9:00 (it’s about 7:30 right now), so I should really get going.  I’ll be back quite soon with a post on the Trossachs…. Until then, cheers!